Agricultural productivity growth, employment and poverty in developing countries, 1970-2000

Abstract

This paper was prepared as background research for the World Employment Report 2004-05, Employment, Productivity and Poverty Reduction. The topic of this year’s Report was chosen based on the observation that it is not simply the lack of employment that leads to poverty, but rather the lack of decent and productive employment. In many parts of the developing world the poor are in fact employed, but employed in such poorly paid conditions that they and their families live on less than US$1 a day per person. Thus, unemployment is only the ‘tip’ of the iceberg of the decent work deficit. The Report concludes that not only do we need more jobs, but more productive jobs – jobs that allow workers to lifts themselves and their families out of the vicious cycle of poverty. The background papers commissioned for this Report provide an overview of the important aspects involved in the links between employment, productivity and poverty reduction in both developing and developed economies. The papers were commissioned from experts in the field as well as various departments within the ILO and discuss different avenues through which poverty can be reduced, as well as the trade-offs that must be made in order to strike the right balance between productivity, employment and income growth. The research involves macroeconomic, sectoral and case study analysis that has helped form the basis of the chapters in the Report. Based on the research from these background papers the Report concludes that increasing the opportunity for decent and productive work is an important channel towards achieving a fairer globalization, and is vital for poverty reduction.